Author: looking2jesus13

Titus 3:4:7

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever had an epiphany?

If so, in what way?

Webster’s defines “epiphany” this way: “a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.”

And we read of many such occasions in the Bible—Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, Elijah, the Apostle John—these are examples of those who experienced some kind of epiphany when it comes to an unveiling of some aspect of God.

The writer of this epistle, the Apostle Paul, is a man who knew something about epiphanies.  He had one we read about in Acts chapter 9, when Jesus appeared to him when he was on the road to Damascus.  And on that occasion, he was saved, and his life was completely turned around.  And then we read of another epiphany in 2 Corinthians 12:4, in which Paul speaks of how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.

And our passage speaks of an “epiphany.”  In fact, the term translated “appeared” in Titus 3:4 is the Greek “epiphaino.”  It means to shine upon, or to become visible or known, or to appear.  The same Greek term is used in Titus 2:11 and again in 2:13.

And as Paul is writing to Titus, who has been called to a church planting ministry in Crete, he instructs him on matters relating to the organization and order of these churches.  But as he comes to the end of this epistle, he speaks to Titus of these matters related to the gospel.  He speaks of the appearing of the grace of God.  And He speaks to him of the appearing of the kindness of God and His love for mankind.  And we should note, that this appearing, this epiphany, is above every other appearing in importance and relevance.  It is the preeminent of all epiphanies because it represents to us the truth about who God is and what He has done.

And then there are those Christmas epiphanies.  When God through an angel revealed His intent to Joseph and Mary that she would give birth to a baby who was to be named Jesus, though she herself was a virgin.  And there was that epiphany to the shepherds who again through an angel were told of the birth of the Savior, Christ the Lord.  And they went and saw the baby Jesus.  And then there were the Wise Men from the east who followed the star to where the Child was.  And when they saw Him they fell down and worshipped Him.  And then there were Anna and Simeon too.  And these all were privileged to have a special role in His appearing.

But His appearing was to have world-wide implications, from the beginning.  John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father.”  And John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

So, Christmas is the ultimate of epiphanies.  Both in a local sense to a limited and specific group of chosen people, but then ultimately having historical and worldwide implications.  There has never been any appearing, in all of the history of man, of more significance than the appearing of Jesus Christ.  This is the most glorious of all appearings!   We even date our calendars to it.  And all of the Bible either looks forward or back to this incredible event, when Jesus came to this earth to be born to die for sins.

This is the epiphany of Jesus.  Encompassing His birth, death, resurrection, and return.  Note how this passage in its context speaks to both (Titus 2:11 and 3:4 vs. Titus 3:13; and Hebrews 10:26 and 10:28).  It is the epiphany that is represented to us in the gospel—that matter of first importance, which is the glorious gospel of the blessed God, and which is also the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.  This gospel message of which the church holds stewardship in this present dispensation, even as the church from the beginning has been called to bear witness of Jesus.

But it is important not just for historical or theological reasons, it is important because of what it means to each one of us personally.  The message and meaning of this epiphany has personal implications for each one of us.  There is a personal message from God to you and to me.

So, we’ll be looking at that today.  We want to consider what this epiphany of God means to you and me personally…

MESSAGE

I. A DIVINE REVELATION OF GOD’S GREAT LOVE

Kindness.  Defined = usefulness, gentleness, goodness…goodness of heart.  “Kindness is not an apathetic response to sin, but a deliberate act to bring the sinner back to God.” What makes this kindness of God so remarkable is in the understanding of who we are.  If you back up to verse 3, we read of the condition of mankind in sin.  And Romans 3 tells us that we are all sinners.  And Romans 6 says that we are enemies of God.  And Colossians 1:21 speaks to man being hostile towards God.  And yet God, on the other hand, is good and kind towards man.  Luke 6:35, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”  Now Christmas is an epiphany of this truth to humanity.  And the cross further manifests this truth about God.  How incredible the kindness of God towards lost sinners!  When we look to the cross and the mocking crowd and the insults hurled upon Jesus, how amazed we ought to be at the kindness of God that worked to send Jesus here to be born and die for our sins!

Love (philanthorpia).  Philanthropist.  It is the combination of two words which then mean literally “loving man.”  Typically, when we think of a philanthropist, we think of someone who gives or acts to the betterment of his fellow man. In John 3:16 we read of how God so loved the world, but there the word agape is used.  Here it is a different word which speaks to God’s tender affection for mankind.  His loving concern.  God’s uninfluenced and unearned friendly disposition towards man.  Like that which we see after the fall, when God is seeking out Adam, and called out “Where are you?”  And He could off written off rebellious mankind all together, but He did not.  And even though the lost person be a child of wrath deserving of God’s judgment, God has shown kindness to all and desires all men to be saved in His love for mankind.  Jesus birth was an epiphany to all of God’s love for mankind.  Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Grace (Titus 2:11).  Unmerited favor.  Grace = God giving to us that which we don’t deserve.  If I work for someone and they give me a wage, that’s me getting what I’ve merited.  If they simply giving a gift because of their goodness and generosity, that’s grace.  If I’m their enemy, yet they still reach out to me and give me a gift—that’s more akin to God’s grace as it is revealed to us in salvation.  God is a God of grace.  He is rich in grace.  Ephesians 2:7 speaks of the “surpassing riches of His grace in kindness towards us.”  One of the best descriptions of the grace of God bestowed on us is found in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”  Undeserved blessings bestowed on us by God through Christ.  This truth about God was revealed to us in Jesus.  John 1:16, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”  When Jesus appeared the grace of God appeared.  His birth was an epiphany to the world of the surpassing riches of the grace of God.

Mercy. (Titus 3:5).  According to Vine’s, mercy is “the outward manifestation of pity; it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet that need on the part of the one who shows it.”  A great example of the mercy is that of the Good Samaritan who saw the beaten man and felt pity for him.  He bound up his wounds and took him to the inn and paid that he might be cared for.  But when it comes to God and man mercy is God not giving to us what we do deserve.  We deserve judgment.  We deserve condemnation for our sins.  But the repentant sinner receives mercy from God instead.

Now these attributes of God are all revealed to us in this epiphany of Jesus.  When Jesus came into the World, when Immanuel—God with us—became flesh and dwelt among us, the true nature of God was made evident.

And this epiphany reveals a truth to us that we otherwise could not understand—that our Creator God is a God who is full of kindness, love, grace and mercy.  In Luke 15 we read how Jesus was hanging around tax collectors and sinners.  And the religious leaders were chiding him for it.  And he responded by telling a series of parables.  And one of them was the parable of the prodigal son.  The prodigal son took his share of his father’s inheritance and headed out into the world.  And he spent it all on lose living and even on prostitutes.  And when a famine came into the land he was impoverished.  He ended up with a job feeding pigs and was himself longing to eat what the pigs ate.  But then he came to his senses.  And the question in his mind was what might he find when he endeavored to return to his father?

And so it is for lost sinners.  In their Adam-born sinful rebellion they too live according to the lusts of the flesh and find themselves powerless to change.  They too bring dishonor to their heavenly Father.  And they, like Adam, are prone to hide in the darkness, for fear of His wrath and judgment.

But what happened to the repentant prodigal?  What did he find once he came to his senses and made his way back?  He found kindness and tender affection, for even when he was a long way off the father was looking for him.  And when the father saw the son, he embraced him, and felt compassion for him.  And he showed mercy towards him, though the son had dishonored the father, the father did not deal with him according to what he deserved.  And he found grace, for the father gladly bestowed on him unexpected blessings…he clothed him, and sandaled his feet, and killed the fatted calf and prepared a feast and a celebration.  And this was all true because of the good-hearted nature of that father.  And God is like that.  The father explained his thinking to the elder son, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive, he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:32).

It isn’t too many chapters that we read of how Jesus was a guest to Zaccheus, a tax-collector.  And the religious leaders were again grumbling against Jesus.  But Jesus explained the matter this way, and we should rejoice in this truth for it is the reason for this epiphany of God— “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

II. A DIVINE REMEDY FOR MAN’S SIN PROBLEM

The depth and breadth of the problem: Titus 3:3; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12; Romans 6:23

BUT GOD…: Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 2:1-4; Colossians 1:21-22

John Piper, “But God.” These two words are overflowing with gospel. For sinners like you and me who were lost and completely unable to save ourselves from our dead-set rebellion against God, there may not be two more hopeful words that we could utter.

Once we were dead to any real love for God at all, buried under the compounding and disorienting blindness of our sins (Ephesians 2:1), but God. Once we were deceived by our own lust for glory and self-determination; once we were unknowingly led by the pied piper called “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), but God. Once we lived enslaved to the passions of our flesh, being driven and tossed between the impulsive waves of our flesh and mind (Ephesians 2:3), but God. Once we were God’s enemies (Romans 5:10), hating him (Romans 1:30), children of his wrath. But God.

But God being rich in mercy, but God showing his incomprehensible “love for us in that while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8) he said to us God-dead, God-ignoring, God-rivaling, God-hating, dry-boned children of wrath: “live” (Ezekiel 37:5)! Live to true beauty, live to true glory, live to true hope, live to true pleasure, live to true joy! Live to God (Galatians 2:19) and live forever (John 6:58)!

And he did so by taking our God-deadening, God-ignoring, God-rivaling, God-hating, God-wrath inducing sin and placing it on his Son

Salvation not by works, but by grace through faith

Ephesians 2:8-9

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness:

Example of Nicodemus. John 3.

Example of Paul. Philippians 3.

III. A DIVINE RESULT IN OUR SALVATION

Justification. To declare righteous.  How did this justification come about?  Being sinners by birth, we have all violated God’s righteous standards.  But Jesus came and bore the burden of our sins.  And it’s as if we were in God’s divine courtroom.  And we are guilty.  And we are deserving of death, eternal destruction.  And there is no argument that we can make.  And we have no excuse.  And we are helpless to do anything to rectify the situation.  But then Jesus steps in.  He takes the punishment that we deserve, He dies once for all for sins and declares “It is finished.”  And in Him the certificate of debt Colossians 1:14 is cancelled out.  God stamps paid in full and cancels it out.  And we are declared righteous with the very righteousness of Him in whom we have believed.  It is what is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  And having believed, and being declared righteous, you know stand in this secure place, as it says in Romans 5:1, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  And this is all made possible by the epiphany of God in revealing Himself in Jesus who came into this world to save sinners.

Regeneration.  Means a “new birth.”  According to Vine’s it represents “the communication of a new life.”  We speak of it as being born again.  And we are born again by a work of the Spirit (John 3:5) and of the Word (1 Peter 1:23).

Renewal.  Literally “to make new.”  It is speaking here of the continued operation of the Holy Spirit in us, in leading, teaching, empowering, transforming, in doing all that He does so that we might be transformed into Christ’s image.

Outpouring of the Spirit

A future hope

CONCLUSION

What this means for our world.  This appearing stands as the basis for the sole message of hope for lost sinners.  And they need to have their own personal epiphany.  And they can have that.  2 Corinthians 4:3-6

What this means for you and me.  We’ve had our own epiphany.  It may not have been as dramatic as that of the Apostle Paul, but at some point of time in your past God intervened and revealed the truth to you.  And this God who has shown such kindness and love and grace and mercy in sending His Son is now your Heavenly Father.  And by the Spirit you cry out Abba, Father.  And He deals with you day by day according to His great love and mercy.  And you can rest in that.  You can rejoice in that.  You can live in hopeful anticipation of a future epiphany of God, in that.

What this means for those whom we love.  This is the message of Christmas.  Of this appearing of the kindness and love and grace of God.  Of God’s true nature being unveiled to us in Jesus and being demonstrated in preeminent fashion in His willing sacrifice.  And you and I have been called to bear witness of this epiphany of God.  We’ve been called to spread the word.  The shepherds who experienced their own personal epiphany when they saw the angel and then saw the babe, were glad to share what they had seen with others still.  And so, should we.  We’ve been called to bear witness of this love for mankind revealed to us in Jesus, who died for sins and rose from the dead!

A Certain Hope in Uncertain Days: 30 Days of Hope-filled Focus

Day 16: My Hope is in the Lord

“My Hope is in the Lord” is one of my favorite hymns because in its clear presentation of the gospel message it focuses on the solid foundation of the believer’s hope.

Verse 1 of the hymn goes as follows: “My hope is in the Lord, who gave Himself for me and paid the price for all my sins on Calvary.”  Then there’s the chorus: “For me, He died, for me He lives and everlasting light and life He freely gives.”

This first verse speaks to the sure foundation of hope that we have in Jesus through His saving work on the cross.  He “gave Himself for me” echoes what the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20. He died “once for all” for sin, paying the “price for all my sins on Calvary” (1 Peter 3:18).  The gospel message, “Jesus died for sin and rose from the dead,” and its promise of “light and life” represents a true, abiding, and unassailable message of hope to all who believe (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

Verse 2, “No merit of my own, His anger to suppress; My only hope is found In Jesus’ righteousness.”

If you were to ask people, most would say that people make their way to heaven by being and doing good.  The religious cults all teach such doctrines.  But the Bible makes it clear that no one can be saved that way.  Saul of Tarsus had an impressive religious resume.  He had an outstanding religious pedigree, an unrivaled religious passion, a superior religious position, and an exemplary religious practice (Philippians 3:4-6).   But he counted all such religious assets to be rubbish and cast them aside in order that he might gain Christ “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of (his) own…but that which comes through faith in Christ (Philippians 3:8-9; Cf. Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; John 1:12-13).

Verse 3, “And now for me He stands, before the Father’s throne.  He shows His wounded hands, And names me as His own.”

Biblical hope is a present tense certainty regarding an unseen, future, reality.  Its foundation lies in the person and promises of God.  But in the here and now there are things that work against hope, even attempting to extinguish it altogether (i. e.  trials and troubles, enemies and obstacles, missteps and failures, etc.).   In that context the message of verse 3 is especially helpful.  There is One who intercedes for us.  The One who died and rose again, is “at the right hand of God” and is “interceding for us” (Romans 8:34).  To intercede is “to plead to someone regarding the needs of someone else.”  Jesus does that for us, but he pleads for us not on the basis of our innocence or relative goodness, but instead on the basis of His purchase of us by His blood.  We belong to Him.  He is the “Shepherd and Overseer of (our) souls” (1 Peter 2:25).  Since we’ve been declared righteous in Jesus, no one can condemn us, and nothing can work to separate us from His love.

Verse 4, “His grace has planned it all, ‘Tis mine but to believe; And recognize His work of love and Christ receive.”

What is grace?  The general answer given is “unmerited favor.”  According to that definition it is God giving to us what we don’t deserve.  That’s a clinical and theologically correct definition to a term, in speaking of the nature of God, that transcends our capacity to fully comprehend.  But it helps perhaps, to break that definition down into its two parts.  There is the unmerited side.  What do we deserve?  Because of sin we are all born into this world deserving—and destined to receive—condemnation (Cf. Romans 3:23, 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 1:21).  But then there is the “favor” side of the equation.  What have we received?  Ephesians 1:3 sums it up this way, “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  When it comes to salvation, its all about grace.  From beginning to end, its all by grace.  The Apostle Paul asked the question “What do you have that you did not receive” (1 Corinthians 4:7) and then stated of his own experience “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10).  Were it not for grace there could be no hope.  But despite our sin, our grace-filled Savior has worked to save us.  Not only has He saved us, through His poverty He has made us to be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).  Any spiritual advantage I’ve ever possessed, I’ve possessed not by my doing—because I somehow deserve it or have earned it–but because God has given it to me.  And God is a giving God (Cf. James 1:13).  Because God is rich in grace and mercy, I can remain ever hopeful amidst the troubles and trials of life.

A Certain Hope in Uncertain Days: 30 Days of Hope-filled Focus

Day 15: Hope for the Helpless

The leper (Matthew 8:1-4) likely didn’t know the crazy men (Matthew 8:28-34), but he’s been perpetually “bound-together” with them as bookends to a chapter which speaks to the miracle working power of the Lord Jesus.  In that sense and in another they shared much in common.

I’ve been lonely.  You’ve likely experienced loneliness too.  But it’s hard to imagine what must have been the lonely and hopeless experience of these three needy souls.  The kin of Adam all bear the tragic consequences of sin, these seemingly bore more than their fair share.

Disfigured by leprous sores and scars the diseased leper was deemed unclean.  Others were prohibited from any direct contact with him.  “Unclean, Unclean” he would warn lest any might come too close.  He had said it so often it had become his identity—how he thought of himself.  Forsaken by family and friends, he was a lonely man.  A discard of human society.  Parents warned their children to stay away from him.  How long had it been since he experienced the hug of his mother or embrace of his friend?  The affectionate or caring touch of another was but a distant memory.  He was a man without hope, utterly alone and rejected.  But then Jesus came.  By faith the leper made his way to Him.  Disregarding earthly protocol, he bowed down to Jesus.  Confidently he proclaimed, “Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean” (Matthew 8:2).  And you know what Jesus did?  He did what no one else would dare do–what the leper had not experienced in months, maybe years.  “He stretched out His hand and touched him” (Matthew 8:3).  “Be cleansed” He said.  And the leper was cleansed.  One can only imagine the happy reunion that was the result with the leper was made whole and restored to his family and friends.

The demon possessed men lived in the tombs, far away from everyone else.  They were so violent that nobody else could pass by that way.  Their naked bodies bore the bruises and scars of self-afflicted wounds.  Though often bound with shackles and chains, with demonic power they would tear the chains from them and break the shackles into pieces.  The fearful neighbors could hear them crying out constantly “day and night,” their devil-inspired shrieks instilling fear in their hearts.  They were all alone.  Two men deemed too crazy and too dangerous to associate with.  Rejected and relegated to the place where dead men dwelt.  Lonely and helpless and hopeless men.  But then Jesus came.  The two men “met Him as they were coming out of the tombs” (Matthew 8:28).  The demons spoke.  “Begone” Jesus replied!  And with a word the men were delivered of their demons and made right of mind (Mark 5:15).  One can only imagine the happy reunion that was the result when the demon-possessed men were restored to their family and friends.

The Savior of all hung there on a cross.  The Only Begotten of God despised and rejected.  Conspired against and unfairly tried he was declared guilty and condemned to die.  His friends forsook Him.  His created mocked Him.  A cacophony of voices filled the air with insults and abuse.  Humanity declared Him unwelcome.  The loneliness of that experience is hard to fathom, but it was worse even than that.  The burden of the ugly sin of the lost and lonely sons of Adam was put upon Him.  He who had never sinned, was made to be sin.  And for a moment of time the eternal and perfect fellowship between the Father and the Son was severed.  The pain and agony and loneliness of that event transcends all human understanding.  He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”  But the grave could not hold Him, He rose from the dead triumphing over sin and death and the devil.

He was made to be sin that we might be made righteous in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).  He was made to be lonely in sin that He might rescue the lonely from sin.  In Him there is hope for all of Adam’s kin.  He was not afraid to reach out and touch a leper.  He was powerful enough to subdue the demons.  He cares.  He is able.  He alone is able to rescue the lost and lonely.

A Certain Hope in Uncertain Days: 30 Days of Hope-filled Focus

Day 14: Defending Hope

1 Peter 3:15, “…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

The term translated “defense” in this verse is the Greek apologia which means literally “to talk one’s self off of.”  It was used in the Greek law courts of an attorney who talked his client off from a charge made against him.  The word can also refer to an informal explanation or defense of one’s position and in that sense describes an answer given to the skeptical or derisive inquiries of ill-disposed opponents.  That is the sense of the term’s use in this context.  The same term was used by the Apostle Paul in reference to his address before his Jewish opponents in which he shared his testimony in defending himself (Cf. Acts 22:1).  Christian Apologetics, that field of theology which endeavors to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, derives its name from this term.

Peter’s readers were suffering as a direct result of their faith in Christ.  Their faith was tested as they endured suspicion, derision, accusations and threats.  But in place of fear (Cf. 1 Peter 3:14) they were exhorted in their hearts to “honor Christ the Lord as holy” (1 Peter 3:15).  The antidote for fear is wholehearted submission to the Lord Jesus.  The believer in Christ is to always be ready to make a defense.

The need for a defense regarding one’s faith arises because of the inquisitiveness of unbelievers with respect to a believer’s hope.  The verse presupposes both that a believer possesses such a hope and that his or her hope is visibly evident.  The unbeliever is left to wonder why such a hope exists and how and why it is maintained, especially when there is no apparent earthly reason for its existence.

With respect to our witness before the lost we possess a hope that they do not have.  The unbeliever is one “having no hope and without God in the world” (Cf. Ephesians 2:12).  Life in this trouble-filled world is characterized by much despair.  Who hasn’t had a hope or dream shattered?  The prospect of pending death casts a shadow over all of lost humanity (Cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13).

But the believer in Christ possesses a living hope that is firmly rooted in the undeniable truth of Christ’s resurrection from the dead (Cf. 1 Peter 1:3).  What is the believer’s reason for hope?  The Risen Savior, the One who has conquered sin and death, resides within his heart (Cf. 1 Peter 1:8-9).  Hope translates the Greek elpis which speaks to the confident expectation regarding some future thing.  Contrary to the common usage of its English counterpart it includes no element of doubt.  We are exhorted to “set (our) hope fully on the grace that will be brought to (us) at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).  Our hope is to be fully invested in the sure promise of Christ’s pending return (i.e. “the blessed hope;” Titus 2:13).

We are to be people of hope, and in distinctive fashion, because we serve a Risen and Returning Savior. Much in this life is not guaranteed to us. “God hath not promised skies always blue, flower-strewn pathways all our lives through; God hath not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain. But God hath promised strength for the day, rest for the labor, light for the way, grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.”  Christ has promised to return for us and in that pending reality we have good reason to be of good cheer.  With that promise Christ reassured his troubled disciples (Cf. John 14:1-4).  The believing community is likewise repeatedly exhorted to encourage one another in this very same truth (Cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:18; Hebrews 10:25).  In the Risen and Returning Savior we have good reason to be ever hopeful.

As lights shining amidst the darkness, God’s children are called to be people of hope in this despairing world.  But to be hopeful Christians we need to be heavenly-minded Christians.  If we are to maintain a credible witness before the lost, there is likely a need for less complaining about our circumstances in the “here and now” and more attention to given to the glory that awaits us in the “there and then” (Cf. Colossians 3:14; Philippians 3:19b-21).  God would have us to be people full of hope (Cf. Romans 15:13).  Amy Carmichael put it this way, “Make us thy mountaineers, we would not linger on the lower slope, fill us afresh with hope, O God of hope.”

A Certain Hope in Uncertain Days: 30 Days of Hope-filled Focus

Day 13: The Believer’s Hope

1 Tim. 4:10, “Because we have fixed our hope on the living God.”

INTRODUCTION

• “Hope” in the New Testament is almost always from the Greek word “elpis” (Noun) or “elpizo” (Verb). The term refers to a “favorable and confident expectation.” The term, unlike our English counterpart, connotes no degree of uncertainty.
• The following survey of various usages reveals that which should be the object of the believer’s hope:

SURVEY OF NT OCCURENCES OF THE WORD “HOPE”

What our hope is not in…

• The hope of the believer is radically different than that of the unbeliever:

o Eph. 2:12, “Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ…having no hope and without God in the world.”

o 1 Thess. 4:13, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.”

o 1 Pet. 3:15, “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”

• In this life only:

o 1 Cor. 15:19, “If we had hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”

• In the uncertainty of possessions:

o 1 Tim. 6:17, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”

What our hope is in…

• The gospel, salvation:

o Col. 1:23, “If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard.”

o 1 Thess. 5:8, “But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

• God, Christ:

o 2 Cor. 1:10, “He on whom we have set our hope.”

o Eph. 1:12, “We who were the first to hope in Christ.”

o 1 Thess. 1:3, “Constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”

o 1 Tim. 1:1, “Christ Jesus, who is our hope.”

o 1 Tim. 4:10, “Because we have our hope fixed on the living God.”

o 1 Tim. 5:5, “Now she who is a widow indeed, and who has been left alone has fixed her hope on God.”

o 1 Pet. 1:21, “Your faith and your hope are in God.”

• Eternal life:

o Tit. 1:2, “In the hope of eternal life.”

• Heaven:

o Col. 1:5, “Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.”

o Heb. 6:19-20, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

o Heb. 11:1, 14-16, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country not their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one.”

• Our inheritance:

o Tit. 3:7, “Having been justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

o 1 Pet. 1:3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

• Christ’s return:

o Tit. 2:13, “Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.”

o Phil. 3:20, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

o 1 Pet. 1:13, “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

o 1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

• Culmination of God’s transforming work:

o Rom. 5:2-5, “We exult in the hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us.”

o Rom. 8:20-25, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for [our] adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

o Col. 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

o Phil. 3:19-21, “…whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

• Reunion of fellow believers in the presence of Christ:

o 1 Thess. 2:19-20, “For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”

ADJECTIVES USED TO DESCRIBE THIS HOPE

• 2 Thess. 2:15, “Who has…given us good hope by grace.”
• Heb. 7:19, “There is a bringing in of a better hope.”
• Tit. 2:13, “The blessed hope.”
• 1 Pet. 1:3, “A living hope.”

THREE-FOLD PERSPECTIVE OF HOPE IN CHRIST

Three different prepositions are used to describe the relationship of our hope with regards to Christ. The following has been gleaned from the Vine’s Expository Dictionary (p.311-312):

• The preposition eisis rendered “in” in 1 Pet. 3:5, “who hoped in God.” The “hope” referred to here is directed to and centered in the person of God.
• The preposition epiis typically rendered “on” or “upon.” E.g. Rom. 15:12, “Upon Him shall nations hope” (YLT). The “hope” referred to here expresses the ground upon which hope rests.
• The preposition enis rendered “in” or “within.” E.g. 1 Cor. 15:19, “we have hoped in Christ.” According to Vine’s “the preposition expresses that Christ is not simply the ground upon whom, but the sphere and element in whom, the hope is placed.” The form of the verb (perfect participle with the verb to be, lit., “are having hoped”) stresses the character of those who “hope,” more than the action; “hope” characterizes them, showing what sort of persons they are.”

Christ is the sole basis of our hope in every respect. Our hope is in Him (in His person). Our hope rests upon Him (in His work). Our hope is for Him (in His return). Our hope is Him (that we might be in His presence).

FIX YOUR HOPE

Four times in the NT the term “fix” or “fixed” is used to describe how we are to hope in the certain hope that has been established for us as believers:

• 1 Tim. 4:10, “Because we have fixed our hope on the living God.” The words “fixed your hope” translate the Greek “elpizo” (perfect, active, indicative).
• 1 Tim. 5:5, “Now she who is a widow indeed, and who has been left alone has fixed her hope on God.” The words “fixed her hope” translate the Greek “elpizo” (perfect, active, indicative).
• 1 Tim. 6:17, “Instruct those who are rich…not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty or riches, but on God.” The words “fix their hope” translate the Greek “elpizo” (perfect, active, infinitive).
• 1 Pet. 1:13, “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The words “fix your hope” translate the Greek “elpizo” (aorist, active, imperative).

The believer is one who has already fixed his hope on the living God. In view of this, he is to take care lest he mistakenly fix his hope on earthly possessions. Ultimately, his hope is to be fixed completely on the grace to be brought to him at the revelation of Christ.

A Certain Hope in Uncertain Days: 30 Days of Hope-filled Focus

Day 12: A Great Messenger of Hope

I love Christian biographies.  One of my favorites is that of George Whitefield.  From his dramatic conversion to his final day on earth, his life speaks to how God can work in miraculous fashion to save a man from the depths of despair and then use him in an unexpected and amazing way.  Here’s the story…

Book Review: “George Whitefield, God’s Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century,” by Arnold A. Dallimore

This is a wonderful easy-reading biography of one of the most influential Pastors in the 1700s–a man who played a large role in the Great Awakening that transformed the American colonies.

The life of George Whitefield was anything but typical. While at Oxford and attending “The Holy Club” under the influence John Wesley, Whitefield was convinced by a book that he was not born again. Fearful of being eternally lost he determined to find his way. Over a period of months, he fasted, prayed, and humbled himself before God. His studies and his health suffered. He became so weak that a physician confined him to bed for seven weeks. When there was nothing else that he could do, God revealed Himself in grace and granted to Whitefield that which he could not earn. He was born again.

Having first preached some in England, in December of 1737 Whitefield boarded a vessel bound for Georgia to preach the gospel. His visit to Georgia impressed upon him the need to provide for an Orphan house for the numerous orphans of settlers who had died. He returned to England to secure a charter and money for that purpose. His efforts to minister to the orphans continued for the rest of his life.

Because of the nature of his preaching Whitefield was shut out of many churches in England. His preaching was unique, from that found in many of the established churches, in that he spoke of the need to be born again through faith in Christ. He spoke plainly and simply such that the common people could understand. He possessed a voice of unusual clarity. Through the influence of another man he began “Open Air” meetings. During one period he was holding 30 some meetings a week. These meetings drew huge crowds. It was not unusual for him to speak to six or seven thousand and on some occasion’s tens of thousands. On one occasion following his return to America, Benjamin Franklin–a friend of Whitefield’s–measured the distance at which Whitefield’s voice could be heard, and stated, “I computed he might well be heard by more than thirty thousand.”

Though he had been influenced much by John Wesley, doctrinal divisions worked to separate the two. Whitefield favored Predestination, Wesley opposed it and even preached a sermon against Whitefield’s view. Wesley’s evangelistic work was sometimes accompanied by “convulsion-like attacks,” Whitefield expressed his dislike of that. Wesley began to declare his doctrine of “Christian Perfection,” Whitefield argued against it. He summed up his attitude in saying, “Every grace that is in the blessed Jesus is to be transplanted into our hearts; we are to be delivered by the power of sin but not from the indwelling and being of sin in this life. HEREAFTER we are to be preserved blameless, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.”

In 1740 Whitefield again visited America. He preached repeatedly throughout the thirteen colonies. This period, the Great Awakening, was undoubtedly the richest time of spiritual blessing in the nation’s history. His presence was not without controversy. He wrote a letter condemning the harsh treatment of slaves. In those days it was frequently asked, “Does the Negro have a soul?” and Whitefield gave the first widely heard positive reply that the black man was basically no different than the white man. Notably, his preaching to the blacks also led to the creation of the “Negro Spiritual.” These matters combined with his supposed “un-Anglican” actions led an Anglican leader to attempt to expel him from the ministry.

Whitefield and other Pastors in England determined to take the gospel message to the “Mobs.” These were the “wildest and most brutal of men” unreached by the “Religious Societies” of the day. The Mob responded to preaching of the gospel with fists and clubs and beating of Pastors, but still the ministers of the gospel returned. Whitefield himself experienced some of that kind of treatment. The efforts of Whitefield and others bore fruit over time as many ultimately trusted in Christ for salvation.

He continued his ministry in England, Scotland, and America with fruitfulness. He literally preached himself to death. On one occasion he was warned by a doctor to allow himself a period of rest. His reply? “I intend to preach till I drop.” On September 29, 1770 Whitefield preached a final sermon. It was given with such clearness and eloquence that many hearers stated it was the greatest sermon they had ever heard from him. It was from the text, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” One gentleman wrote of the occasion, “Mr. Whitefield rose and stood erect, and his appearance alone was a powerful sermon. He remained several minutes unable to speak, and then said, “I will wait for the gracious assistance of God…” “I go,” he cried, “I go to a rest prepared; my sun has arisen and by aid from Heaven has given light to many. It is now about to set–no, it is about to rise to the zenith of eternal glory. Many may outlive me on earth, but they cannot outlive me in Heaven. Oh thought divine! I shall soon be in a world where time, age, pain, and sorrow are unknown. My body fails, my spirit expands. How willingly would I live to preach Christ! But I die to be with Him!” George Whitefield died the next morning.

George Whitefield preached some 30,000 sermons. He preached to the poor and uneducated and to English aristocrats and American statesmen. He was considered in his day to be “the most brilliant and popular preacher the modern world has ever known.” You will be encouraged and inspired by this book.

A Certain Hope in Uncertain Days: 30 Days of Hope-filled Focus

Day 11: Hope for the Hopeless

Romans 5:3-5, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Ernest Gordon was one of many British soldiers captured by the Japanese in the battle for Singapore in WW2.  Ultimately, he and thousands of other captives were taken to Banpong, Thailand.  The Japanese command forced these prisoners into hard—sunrise to sunset—labor in building a 258-mile railway to further the Japanese war effort.  They were mistreated and tortured, fed little, and given no medical attention.  Work was not going fast enough, so workers were beaten.  Many died as a result of torture, beatings, and disease.

Gordon was not a Christian, but during his captivity he saw things that caused him to consider Christ.  One such occasion was when a soldier was determined to save his best friend when he became ill.  He gave up all his own rations, without telling of his sacrifice, for the benefit of his friend.  His sick friend recovered.  He himself later died of starvation.

On another occasion, at the end of a day’s work, a guard declared that a shovel was missing.  In a fit of uncontrollable rage, he yelled, “All die!  All die!”  Just as the guard was to begin shooting the captives, a man stepped forward.  “I did it,” he said.  The Japanese guard slammed the stock of his rifle onto the captive’s head.  The captive sank to the ground, dead.  When the shovels were counted afterwards, they were all there.  The guard had been mistaken.  The captive laid down his life for the sake of the others.

These acts of sacrificial love caused some of the prisoners to think.  One of the captives was a Christian, but Gordon argued against his faith.  He couldn’t understand how God could allow the death of 20 men a day to such ill-treatment.  “Why doesn’t God so something?” he asked.

Another incident spoke again to Gordon’s heart.  Frequently as the prisoners made their way through the local Thai villages, they would come across yellow-robe Buddhist priests.  The philosophy of these priests was non-attachment to the world.  If a prisoner dropped at the side of the road, and was obviously dying, they would purpose to ignore him.  They demonstrated no concern for the plight of the captives.  One day the captives passed through a village where the people, at risk to themselves, gave them food and medicine.  Upon inquiry, it was discovered that the village had been evangelized to Christ through the work of a missionary.  Gordon was forced to again question the ultimate source of such love.

These three instances, amongst others, ultimately were used by God to draw Gordon into a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus.  Other prisoners trusted in Christ as well.  The prisoners began to hold worship services.  They prayed.  They created a Bible-lending library.  They shared their faith with others.  On Christmas day 1943, over 2000 men attended a service.  Though captive in a camp, Jesus worked to set them free to worship–their captivity was transformed by numerous acts of faith and sacrifice.

Years following his rescue and release, Ernest Gordon wrote his great spiritual classic, “Miracle on the River Kwai.”  The book includes this quote, “I know the depths to which men could sink and the heights to which they could rise.  I could speak from the experience of despair, but also of hope; of hatred, but also of love; of man without God, but also of man sustained by God.  God in Christ has shared man’s suffering…even that experience which seems to defeat us all, namely, death.”  The book ends with this sentence, “He comes into our Death House to lead us through it.”

The activity of sacrificial love by the Spirit-led believer flows ultimately from the One who died on Calvary (Cf. 1 John 4:19; Romans 5:5).  Its presence in one’s life gives testimony to the Risen Christ and the greater love He has demonstrated in laying down His life for us (Cf. John 3:16; 1 John 3:16).  That we might replicate His self-sacrificial manner is a mysterious and wonderful work of His grace.  Apart from Him we can do no such thing (Cf. John 15:5), but by His gracious presence His love can indeed flow through us.  What loving word or deed, in obedience, does God have planned for you and me to express this day?  May it be done with a finger pointing towards Calvary!

A Certain Hope in Uncertain Days: 30 Days of Hope-filled Focus

Day 10: More Than Conquerors

Romans 8:37, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

“The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”  That tag line from the old “Wide World of Sports” program is something that is common to our experience—in sports, in politics, in business, in life.

The “victory-defeat” theme is especially relevant to life in the spiritual realm.  A long war against God has raged since the Devil’s rebellion, and on this earth, since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden.  Their sin unleashed a contagion of sin through which we’ve all inherited a sin rebel’s heart.  The world cheers sinners on in the devil’s cause, and the flesh is ever looking, in this world, to satisfy its lusts.

Were it not for Jesus there would be no hope, but He came into this world for the express purpose of delivering sinners (1 Timothy 1:12).  He took on flesh and blood, “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).  In fact, He has defeated all our foes.  “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), but Jesus said, “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  The flesh is relentless in its pursuit of sin, and we might say with the Apostle Paul, “Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 8:24).  But then he went on to say, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 8:24-25).

Victory is assured to those who trust in Jesus for salvation.  They are at once delivered from “the domain of darkness and transferred…to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).  Having been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, they stand before God, from that point forward, clothed in the very righteousness of Christ (Cf. 1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:21).  Having been declared righteous by God Himself, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ—the One who is even now interceding–there is no one able to bring a charge against the believer (Cf. Romans 8:33-34).  God being greater than all, there is likewise no one who can work to “snatch” the believer from His hand (John 10:29).

The believer on earth faces many obstacles and threats, some are listed in Romans 8:38-39, though the list by its very nature is intended to be all inclusive: “death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation.”  We are assured in this passage that there is no entity in all creation that can work “to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

Note that our text doesn’t just say that we will merely conquer, it says that in all these things we are “more than conquerors.”  Its not that we will barely eke out a victory, we will win “going away” and in the context of tremendous challenges.  Ray Stedman explained the matter this way: “If we barely manage to win our way to heaven by the skin of our teeth, we could be said to be a conqueror, but a “more than conqueror” is someone who takes the worst that life can throw at him and uses that to become victorious. “More than conqueror” is one who, by the grace and the gift of God, and in the strength of God within him, actually takes the very things that are designed to destroy him, and they become stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks. That is being “more than conquerors.”

It was years ago when this specific verse came to my mind in a most unlikely setting.  A lady in our church has dealt with a long series of difficult health problems.  A surgery failed to correct a matter and she was barely hanging on to life in the ICU.  Her husband was there with me.  He had been won to Christ years earlier through her prayers and the witness of her life in Christ.  There she was in the ICU.  Tubes ran to and fro from all sorts of IV bottles.  All kinds of electronic instruments were tracking her vitals and such.  She looked very needy and destitute in that hospital bed.  And despite having the best that modern medical care could provide, her prospects—from an earthly perspective—were very dim.  But that was looking at the matter from the wrong perspective.  And that’s where this verse came in.  I said to myself, things are not what they appear.  This beloved sister-in-Christ was not a helpless victim of an ailment that would lead ultimately to her doom, she was a saint, beloved by God, who was on the verge of her greatest victory.  God would bring her safely home and she was soon to be with Jesus in glory.  In a place where there would be no more sin or death or sorrow or pain.

Every believer is a “more than conqueror” in Jesus.  They are that every day, from earth to glory.  They are that “through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).  Praise the Lord!

A Certain Hope in Uncertain Days: 30 Days of Hope-filled Focus

Day 9: Keep Looking Up

Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.”

The term translated “set your minds” means “to direct one’s mind to a thing, to seek, to strive for.”  The KJV has it, “Set your affection on the things above.”  The term is in the present tense calling for the ongoing maintenance of this perspective.

The same term is used in Philippians 3:19 in reference to the contrary perspective of the “enemies of the cross of Christ” who have their “minds set on earthly things.”  The believer, on the other hand, is a citizen of heaven and from there awaits “a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20).

God commands us to keep our minds set on the things above.  And we see here that there is a choice.  We can either set our hearts and minds on things above or things that are on the earth.  Those are the two options availed to us.  We should also note that the unbeliever doesn’t have those two choices.  Lacking salvation he has neither the ability nor inclination to set his mind heavenward.  But, by the Spirit, we as believers, do.

In his classic allegory “Pilgrim’s Progress,” John Bunyan wrote of Christian’s visit to a room in which he saw two children.  One, named Patience, was calm and contented; the other, Passion, was ruled by restlessness and impatience.  A bag was brought in and its contents—a hoard of glittering treasures—was emptied near Passion, who seized upon the bright jewels in frenzied pleasure, laughing at empty-handed Patience.  But soon the scene changed, revealing a much-altered Passion.  He had squandered all his treasures, and now he stood clothed in nothing but rags and sunk into gloom.  Patience, however, still maintained an attitude of calm hope.  Interpreter explained to Christian, ‘Passion is like the person who wants to have his fill in pleasure while he lives on earth.  Patience is like the traveler to Zion, who turns his back on worldly pleasures and waits with patience for the unfading joys of heaven’.”  Passion was like Demas, who, being “in love with this present world,” made the tragic decision to desert the Apostle Paul (Cf. 2 Timothy 4:10).

We are not simply given the command—God doesn’t just say “look there.”  He gives us the reason why.  We are to “set our minds on things that are above” because that’s where Christ is and that’s where we are destined to be (Cf. Colossians 3:3-4).  He who loved us and died for us is even now in heaven.  Our hearts lie there with Him.  We yearn to be united with Him in unfettered intimacy.  Paul had his affection set on things above.  He wrote of his desire to be with Christ inasmuch as he viewed that to be “far better” (Philippians 1:23; Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:4).

If we happen upon something that is gruesome or detestable or difficult to look at—we tend to look away.  If, on the other hand, we see something that is beautiful or attractive—it captures and captivates our attention.  Now the world is not beautiful in a spiritual sense (in its sin it is downright ugly).  But if we look to Jesus, what do we see?  We see our glorious Savior and Lord who is altogether perfect and appealing in every way.  We are, in a sense, like a hot-air balloon.  It tends upward and only remains earthbound as long as it is tethered.  Every believer is indwelt by the Spirit.  The Spirit’s work is to glorify the Son by revealing Him to us and in us.  By the Spirit we “tend upward.”  Our earthly bodies alone tie us down.  It is in the Spirit-led contemplation of Christ that our hearts are drawn to that which lies heavenward (Cf. 2 Corinthians 4:18, 5:6-7).  By the Spirit we “groan” in anticipation of the glory of heaven (Cf. Romans 8:23; 2 Corinthians 5:4).

J. C. Ryle once wrote, “Keep on looking unto Jesus. Faith shall soon be changed to sight, and hope to certainty. Looking to Jesus on earth by faith, you shall end with seeing Jesus eye to eye in heaven.  Those eyes of yours shall look on the head that was crowned with thorns, the hands and feet that were pierced with nails, and the side that was pierced with a spear.  You shall find that seeing is the blessed consequence of believing, and that looking at Jesus by faith, ends with seeing Jesus in glory, and living with Jesus for evermore.  When you awake up after His likeness, you shall be satisfied.”

A Certain Hope in Uncertain Days: 30 Days of Hope-filled Focus

Day 8: Encouragement and Hope

Acts 11:23-24, “When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.”

ENCOURAGEMENT, noun  “The act of giving courage, or confidence of success” (Webster’s Dictionary 1828 Edition).

Barnabas was an encourager.  A Jew from Cyprus, his given name was Joseph (Acts 4:36).  But the apostles renamed him, “Barnabas” (i.e. “son of encouragement), which served him as an apt description of him and his ministry to others.

He is first mentioned in the Bible in Acts chapter 4.  Many Jews were dis-located in Jerusalem.  They had traveled there for Pentecost from faraway places.  They remained there after their conversion to Christ and needed help with food and shelter.  The earthly church responded: “There was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need” (Acts 4:35).  Likewise, Barnabas “sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money” (Acts 4:37).  Imagine how those early believers must have been encouraged through the loving sacrifice of people like Barnabas.  Barnabas would later serve in a “relief effort” to meet the needs of those suffering through “a great famine” (Acts 11:27-30).

Some of those scattered as a result of the great persecution (Cf. Acts 8:1) preached the gospel in Antioch.  “A great number who believed turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21).  The church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas there (Cf. Acts 11:22).  And in Antioch Barnabas worked to encourage the new believers “to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” (Acts 11:23).  He needed help in his ministry, so he “went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch” (Acts 11:25-26).  Together they spent “a whole year” teaching “a great many people” (Acts 11:26).  Together Barnabas and Paul encouraged those believers in the Word of God (Cf. Romans 15:4).

The Christian life is oftentimes compared in Scripture to a race (Cf. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Hebrews 12:1-2; Philippians 3:14).  There is a need to run the race with endurance.  The runner is confronted with many distractions, diversions, and discouragements (Cf. Hebrews 12:1-2).  Imagine the scene.  Christians running side-by-side all headed to the same goal.  But some fall behind and others collapse.  Some are weighed down and others entangled.  Too often fellow runners pay no heed to their struggling companions.  They carelessly run past them, step over them, or even kick them when they are down.  But that’s no way for a Christian to behave.  God would have us instead to lovingly assist and encourage each other along the way.

God would have us all to be like Barnabas.  We all have need of encouragement and God is well-aware of that.  The Holy Spirit is the ultimate encourager.  He is called the “Helper” (Greek “parakletos,” “one called alongside to help”; Cf. John 14:16).  Barnabas’ name, “son of encouragement,” is akin to that given to the Holy Spirit (Cf. Vine’s Expository Dictionary: “it (i.e. paraklesis is akin to parakletos”).  Being filled with the Spirit, Barnabas functioned in his ministry as the “Holy Spirit with hands.”  By the Spirit Barnabas encouraged others such that they were better off in their walk with Christ as a result of his involvement in their lives.

God exhorts His people to encourage one another.  By the Spirit they do (Cf. Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7).  There is a good chance you have someone in your life who is even now desperate for some loving word or deed by which they might be encouraged in their walk with Christ.  There is plenty of encouragement to be had in Him (Cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Hebrews 10:25; 12:1-3).  We all, like Barnabas, are called to point a Spirit-led finger in His direction.   Pray and look for an opportunity to encourage someone today!